A Red Leaf
by JapanDreamer09
Summary: The nickname 'Leaf' stuck to her ever since she, an acknowledged prodigy, had been humiliated in a Pokemon battle by a no-name trainer who had the nerve to give her that nickname. She vowed to take revenge on him and humiliate him just as he humiliated her. This is the story of how they had first met. One shot FR/LG.


I have done it. I have finally written a story based on Fire Red and Leaf Green. Granted it is a one shot but I'm very pleased with what I wrote. For those who don't know me, I rarely write one shot so I hope for some feedback on what I have. It would really help me in the future.

Enjoy!

…

The forest in the back of Pallet Town was a quiet and serene area. There was a dirt road that led deep into the forest but not many people used it unless it was to gather firewood. Children would come here to play but they usually stay at edge of the forest. And outsiders never dare to set foot in such a place.

Except today.

Dina Green, a girl at the age of eleven, was exploring the area for the first time. It was her first time in Pallet Town and she specifically came here for a certain purpose. The dark leaves from the tall trees rustled against the wind and the grass made a 'swish' sound as she trudged past. She walked deeper into the forest for about ten minutes when she came to an abrupt halt.

_What happened here?_

The beautiful forest scenery changed drastically. Scattered around the travelling path were smashed up wood pieces. The dead logs that had dotted the area were now nothing more than splintered sticks. Could it be a wild Pokémon lurking around here? But there were no footprints anywhere. Maybe some sort of freaky weather accident?

Not wanting to turn around just because she saw a pile of broken sticks, Dina continued forward. She followed the instructions she was given and came upon a sign that warned travelers of the dangers ahead. Not feeling the slightest bit of fear, she stopped and immediately walked towards the bush planted near the sign. Dina ducked her head and crawled in the small opening but she miscalculated the height and her long brown hair got tangled in the branches.

"OW!" She gritted her teeth and gingerly touched the strands of hair where it got snared. Flinching slightly, she tugged as hard as she could and she was free. Long threads of brown threads remained tangled between the branches. Her beautiful hair… Even her black dress was ripped at the hem. "Owwwww."

"You know, you should cut your hair shorter if you don't want that to happen to you again." Dina flinched at the sound of the voice. Who was that? She turned around and didn't see anybody.

"Up here," the voice added. She looked and saw a pair of bare feet floating from above. She realized that the feet belonged to a boy about her age, who was sitting on one of the lower branches belonging to a dead tree. He had short messy dark brown hair and wore a simple black t-shirt to match his blue shorts. His gray eyes seemed to be dancing with laughter as he observed her from above.

Had he been watching this entire time? She immediately blushed in embarrassment at the thought. This was definitely not how she had planned to make her entrance.

"You got a leaf stuck in your hair," the kid grinned, pointing to her head. Dina reflexively touched her hair and started to run her fingers through it. Sure enough, a small green leaf came floating down and landed on the ground.

"So Leaf," the guy continued casually, "You must be new around these parts. I've never seen you in town before."

So many things were going through her mind but the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "My name isn't Leaf!"

"You know these forests are pretty dangerous if you're not familiar with them," the kid continued on, not listening to a word she was saying. "What are you doing here?"

"Weren't you in town? You should know who I am." The kid looked genuinely puzzled for a moment before realization painted across his face.

"Oh! You must be one of those new kids who got a Pokémon from Professor Oak," the kid remarked, still grinning. "No wonder why you don't look familiar. I've been in this forest the entire day so I didn't realize you were one of those lucky kids."

"I am Dina Green." She said, puffing her chest up proudly. "I am the top student in the beginning class of Pokémon Technical Institute and was chosen to receive a starter from the famous Professor Oak."

The guy merely stared back and then started to laugh so hard, he almost fell out of the tree.

"W-what's so funny?" She blushed red in confusion and embarrassment. People usually act polite all of a sudden when she stated who she was. Yet this… this… Aipom had the audacity to laugh.

"Sorry," the guy said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "It's just that Leaf Green sounds like an interesting name."

"My name is not LEAF! It is Dina! Dina Green!" She turned red again but this time out of anger. "Stop calling me that!"

"Why not? It's cute."

Dina felt as though she was doused with a bucket of cold water. _Cute?_ What was this boy's objective to say such a thing?

"But you still haven't answered my question yet Leaf. What are you doing here? This is a secret hideout that no one but the people who live here knows about." Was this guy going to still call her by that ridiculous name? Dina took a deep breath, deciding to drop the argument. For now.

"I heard an interesting rumor around here."

"Oh?" The boy had an inkling suspicion of what rumor this girl was talking about, but he decided to play cool and merely raise an eyebrow. "And which one is that?"

"A bunch of guys claimed that the best trainer in town is in these forests training." There was a short pause as the boy digested this piece of information.

"And you think it's me?"

"They gave me a pretty accurate description of what you looked like," Dina said. "And they also said that there was no way a girl like me can beat a guy like you."

"Must be my crew for them to talk like that," the guy laughed. "I take it that you defeated them all first."

"Of course. The Pokémon I received from the Professor today was too much for their Pokémon even though they had them for years." She pushed her hair back and folded her arms across her chest. "Then they have the nerve to say that their leader was better than me."

"You sound so sure that you're better than me even though this is our first time meeting."

"Because I am."

"Really? Great!"

Dina blinked in surprise. That was the last kind of answer she expected. With extremely good reflex, the kid hopped off the dead branch, landing next to her. Looking up close, Dina was able to see his physique more clearly. He was not at all handsome or good looking like the celebrities on the posters hanging from her bedroom walls. The guy was too skinny, slightly taller than her, and definitely had more bruises and bandages on his skin than she does. The twigs and dead leaves gave a crunching sound under his calloused feet. "So when I beat you, that means there is no dispute that I'm the better trainer."

Dina stared and couldn't help but laugh. She had met plenty of people like this guy at her school. They all came, thinking that they were the best until they realized that their world was a lot smaller than they thought. This kid obviously hasn't been out of his hometown and yet, here he was claiming he was stronger. It was like the saying of a Politoed in a well, thinking it was the strongest, not realizing that there was a bigger world outside.

"What's so funny?"

"You obvious don't know who I am if you think for a moment that you can beat me."

"Doesn't matter who I battle against," the kid said, shrugging his shoulders, "How can I call myself the next Pokémon Champion if I can't win against anyone who challenges me?"

"You? The Pokémon Champion? Come on," she scoffed, "I have a better chance in becoming the next one than you do."

"Oh really?" Now the boy seemed interested. "Well then why don't we test it here and now? That is if you still have the guts."

Dina smirked. She was ready to put this guy in his place. As one of the top students of the academy, she had full confidence that she would defeat this guy without much of an effort. "So show me what you got." She took out her Poke ball. "Come on out-!"

"Ah wait! Hold on!" The kid scampered off to the nearby bushes and immediately dived into them.

"What the-?" Dina gaped as she watched the bush shook violently.

"Okay, here we go!" The guy yanked out a yellow backpack from the bushes and unzipped the top. "Sorry about that, my Pokémon is in here." He pulled out a Poke ball. Unlike Dina's, this Poke ball was dirty and had scratches on it.

"Why did you hide your bag in there?"

"I was playing hide-and-go-seek with a friend who is kind of shy around other Pokémon and people."

"What?" Everything that was coming out of this kid's mouth just made her more confused than before.

"But, enough talk. Let's get serious. Charmander!" Out popped the small fire Pokémon from the boy's Poke ball.

"Charmander! Char!" Standing on its two legs, the orange reptilian Pokémon gave a wide smile, revealing the two small fangs in its mouth. A small fire burned brightly at the tip of its orange tail.

"This is Charmander. My strongest Pokémon. Beating him is not going to be easy."

"Charrr!"

Seeing what her opponent had, Dina merely smirked. She knew what the outcome will be. "Come on out! Squirtle!"

"Squirtle! Squirt! Squirt!" The little blue turtle Pokémon jumped out of its Poke ball. It wagged its curly blue tail.

"Oh! So that's the Pokémon you got from Professor Oak. No wonder why my guys had a hard time. It has a very strong defense with that shell."

"Looks like you might as well give up now."

"Really?" The guy looked genuinely surprised. "Why is that?"

_Clearly uneducated about the battle system._ Dina scoffed and shook her head.

"Squirtle is a water type Pokémon," Dina said, boasting. "Your Charmander is a fire type which is weak to water. Any fire attacks you have will be halved while my water attacks will double in power. The chances of you winning are literally zero."

The guy fell silent as he digested this information and Dina thought he had given up when he merely smirked back and replied. "Then why don't I prove you wrong?"

He wasn't backing down from the challenge. Either he was incredibly naive, or he actually thought he can win. Well, she was going to have to wake him up to reality.

"In that case, show me what you got. Bubble!"

"Squirtle!" The little turtle send out a stream of large bubbles straight at the red Charmander.

"Ember!"

"Charrrrr!" The bits of ember pieces clashed against the bubbles, negating both of the attacks. "Well, looks like we're at a stalemate at this rate."

"Squirtle, Tackle!"

"Charmander, Ember again!"

"Endure it and just close the distance!" Charmander sent out another power blast of Ember but Squirtle wasn't faze by it and managed to get close to the opponent. Squirtle managed to slam his shell against Charmander who cried out in pain. Dina immediately took advantage of this.

"Now use Bubble again!"

"Squirtleeeeeee!" This time, Charmander was greeted with a full blast of bubbles and was unable to dodge it.

"Charrrr!" the Pokémon squealed in pain as it stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

"See? What did I tell you? Your Charmander cannot even handle a little bit of water and none of his fire attacks will do much damage to Squirtle. Face it, you lost when the moment when you had out a fire type and I had out a water type." The boy fell silent and seemed to be at a loss for words. "You finally realize the difference between our strengths is?"

"Ha! You are good."

_Wait what?_ Dina didn't expect that sort of a response.

"Closing in on the distance and taking advantage of type weakness at the same time was smart. A little bit gutsy too I might add. But unfortunately for you," the guy gave a rather wicked grin, "my Charmander is a lot stronger than you think. Charmander!" Immediately, the Pokémon jumped up and smirked, all trace of cuteness was gone.

_Wait! That attack should've fainted it or at least weaken it to the point where it couldn't stand. So why was it still standing?_

"Charmander, Smoke Screen!"

"What? Squirtle!" Immediately, the entire playing field was engulfed with black smoke.

_I-I can't see anything!_

"Squirtle! Bubble!" But all Dina heard was the sound of coughing from her Pokémon. The smoke made it impossible for her Pokémon to use any water attack. Suddenly, there were the sounds of cries and some yelling and by the time Dina was able to see the field again, her Squirtle, to her horror, was flipped on to its back. "Squirtle!" The little Pokémon struggled to get on to its feet but all he could do was squirm around with his short legs high in the air.

"Squirtle's shell has its advantages but also its disadvantages." The guy smirked at Dina's horrified face. "Well, I guess I should show you how powerful my Pokémon really is. Charmander, IRON TAIL!"

"Iron WHAT?!"

Charmander's tail started to glow white and with incredible strength, slammed against the flipped Squirtle.

"BOOM!" The force so powerful, that the ground started to crack and shake underneath Squirtle.

"NO! Squirtle!"

"Squirt… Squirtleeeee…" the turtle Pokémon was motionless. It fainted from the powerful move.

"Looks like Squirtle is unable to battle anymore," the guy pointed out, "Guess that makes me the stronger trainer."

_I… I lost?_ Dina dropped to her knees as she held Squirtle in her arms. The thought swirled around her head though she couldn't believe it. She never lost. She couldn't have lost. Not so quickly and not when she had such an advantage. How could she have lost? Such a thing was a disgrace to the number one student.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised that Steel attack even made so much damage," the boy said after he returned his Charmander back into the Poke ball. He actually sounded apologetic for once. "Guess I should have lowered the power a bit."

"Bu-But how?" Dina sputtered. "Charmander can't learn how to use Iron Tail!" Iron Tail was a advanced move for a non-Steel type Pokemon. Teaching it to a fire-type Pokemon is considered to be an advanced skill.

"He can if you've been training him every day and teaching it. Course it wasn't easy since I've only seen it on T.V. a couple of times."

_The splintered wood! That's why there was so much destruction around the area. This guy had been training every day._ Dina realized immediately that this boy was not some armature trainer. He had raw talent. Talent that could be cultivated into something even more.

"Though, I guess it wasn't a fair battle to begin with. You only got your Squirtle today while I had Charmander almost a year. But it was still fun." The guy gave a kind smile. "I'm glad we battled Leaf."

"D-Don't call me that!" Dina snapped, tears bursting from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, refusing to let this guy tease her any further.

"You know, I'm aiming to become the Pokémon Champion. If you want to challenge me again, let's meet at the Pokémon League," the kid continued to grin.

"What?"

"We're officially rivals now that we've battled. You can't think that we won't have a rematch in the future right? We'll do it at the Pokémon League."

"Are you serious? The next one is in four years."

"That means we have four years to train before we can have an official match. That is, if you think you can take on the challenge _Miss Protégé_."

"You think I can't?"

"Doesn't matter what I think right?" He slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm just telling you where you can find me in the future. Until then, get stronger." He turned away and walked down the path that led out of the forest and back to Pallet Town.

"Hold it!"

The boy stopped and turned around. Seriously, what else could this girl want to ruin his dramatic exit?

"As a sign of respect, shouldn't rivals introduce themselves? You know my name, but I don't know yours." Okay, fine, Dina thought. She'll play his game and enter the Pokémon League. This guy may have won this time, but next time… next time she'll make sure that she was standing on the top of the podium. And most importantly, she will wipe that smirk off of his face. She won't give him any reason to call her 'Leaf' anymore.

The boy stared for a moment before giving her a thoughtful smile. It was a smile that Dina definitely wouldn't forget for a really long time.

"In that case, call me Red."

**Author's Notes**

And the end! Man, I had a lot of fun writing this.

But **wait a minute**! Even though this is a one shot, there is a chance that I might continue the story. That's right! If I garner enough support from everybody (reviews, favs, etc) and have a somewhat statistical value, I might make this into a series in the near future. Let me make clear, I would love to continue this regardless of the data, but it does help to know that there are people out there who enjoyed what I written. There are so many possibilities that I would like to work on with this and I think I can take it further.

**Edit:** I fixed a couple of typos and tried to make the story flow a bit.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading.

**-JapanDreamer**


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